Vegetable protein powder or plant based protein may be a viable option for those who suffer with chronic pancreatitis and need an extra source of safe protein. I can not recommend a plant based protein powder because I have never tried one. I do not know whether they may inflame the pancreas and cause unwanted symptoms or if they are in fact a safe source of extra protein. I am merely writing this short post because people have asked me about my thoughts on protein powders.
Plants can provide a high percentage of plant protein depending of course upon the plant. In fact, some plants like spinach, kale, broccoli and cauliflower provide fairly decent sources of protein as a percentage of protein per calorie intake, more than beef, chicken or eggs. That does NOT mean plants pack more protein than beef or chicken, we all know that isn’t true. Just more protein in relation to calorie content.
First in regards to the average protein powder that contains whey (milk solids) or some other more dangerous protein source I’d avoid them. Some people may be able to tolerate whey where others won’t. Be very careful and read the label. Look for fat content and sources of fat (any oils, flax seed, almond, soy, milk solids etc). A little fat is needed with each meal in order to absorb fat soluble vitamins such as A, E and K. But for those of us who have pancreatitis fat is NOT our friend.
IF you should feel the need to try a plant based protein drink check out PlantFusion. It looks like it might be safe. I can find nothing that I would construe as damgerous on the label and it has a fairly low fat content of 2 grams of fat per serving. It also has some pretty decent reviews. If you have tried it or another plant protein powder use the comment section below to share your thoughts and how the product worked out for you.
Hi Healthy Guy
Are you saying we should stay away from protein supplements made from soy?
What about pea-based protein supplements?
Hi John, soy beans are full of fat which means that products made from soy are also usually high in fat. If my memory serves me correctly a cup of cooked soy beans contain 12 – 14 grams of fat. That is a lot of fat. That doesn’t mean all soy products are to high in fat. Just check the fat content and use accordingly. Remember 5 grams of fat (plant based preferred) per meal and 25 grams total per day. That target isn’t easy to hit but it is doable.
Pea based protein should be fine as long as there are no additions like flax seed or other high fat protein sources. Again check labels for actual fat content and where that fat comes from because green peas do not contain fat.
Sorry, but forgot to ask about what do you think of egg-based protein powder?
Someone else asked me about egg white protein powder and it looked fine. check the label for fat content per serving and where that fat comes from. plant fat is safer than animal fat. egg whites have zero fat so if there is fat content it is coming from some other source.
Hi Healthy Guy
Am I right to assume that even if egg-based protein powder has zero fat, soya-based or pea-based protein makes it easier for the pancreas just because it’s plant-based protein?
Regards
It really all depends upon fat content Bob. Many soy products have a fairly high fat contant. egg whites have zero but if the protein powder has egg yolk that contains fat. I have seen egg white protein powder. That should be ok as long as there isn’t some high fat content food mixed in. peas have zero fat. read labels. animal fat (includes dairy) inflames the pancreas more than plant based fat. why? i have no clue. worst fat is saturated, yet small amounts from poultry and fish seem to work ok once the pancreas is no longer inflamed. then monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (plant based).
Hi, my son who is 14 year old is having acute pancreatits since 4 years. last attack on 01/05/2015. so far he had 4 attacks. i wanted to know if i can give him All plant protein from nutrilite? the nutritional information is
energy 40kcal /serving (10g)
protein 8g
carbohydrates 0.3g
fat 0.5g
Ingradients: soy protein isolate 82.26%, wheat protein 10%, pea protein 7.5%, silicon dioxide 0.24%
ranjini have him try a serving or three and see how he does on it. If he doesn’t have any symptoms after a week or so he may be good to go with it.
Dear Health Guy,
I have CP much like yourself, going on six years. Your blog has helped me a lot. I’ve developed the following drink that works for me, maybe this will help others:
Ingredients per drink, I take 1 – 3 per day with no symptoms:
1) 1.5 scoops of carbo gain
2) 1 scoop of egg white protein powder
3) 1 TBSP hemp protein powder
4) 1 TBSP all in one vitamin & mineral powder (1 TBSP first drink, then 1/2 TBSP the rest)
5) 1/2 cup rolled oats
6) Piece of banana (do not use brown bananas, do not use frozen fruit)
7) optional: 1 TSP of creatine if you are weight lifting, exercising (only in 2 drinks, not the third)
8) optional: 1 TSP of flax seed
9) optional: 2 ice cubes
I use a bullet blender and it works wonderfully. I have one first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon and right before bed.
Total calories per serving = between 400 – 500.
Semper Fi.
ST
Thanks Kibosh! Semper Fi brother 🙂
Hi all, I am trying to help an employee of mine who has Pancreatitis, but also has diabetes and is on the highest dose of insulin that he can take. The doctors said they could not give him anymore. He has no one to help him and I’m trying to guide him but I’m overwhelmed. If he has diabetes can or should I advise him to put fruit in his juice? Also the dr. said that his body was actually killing his pancreas and that he will have to have a port put in next week for dialysis. So what kind of pancreatitis does he have???…. I don’t even know if the juicing will help at this point. Anyway, any info will help. Thank you.
Hi – I know how much people want to help but sometimes the best help that others, those who are friends, can give is to pray. It sounds like your friend may be in a very serious way and with both pancreatitis and diabetes it is best for you to let the trained medical community deal with his illness. Juicing isn’t the best for diabetics. It can cause tremendous spikes in blood sugar, especially juice from fruit.
FYI, I started having some mild pancreatic symptoms when drinking a grass fed whey protein shake that I have been drinking about twice a week for years. I switched to a pea protein based drink and have been fine so far.
Hi Nancy – You, like me, obviously don’t tolerate milk solids either. Milk is weird. Some people with pancreatitis tolerate low fat or no fat milk but for some reason even no fat milk does not work for me.. And to be frank, I do NOT know why. There must be something in milk that irritates a previously damaged pancreas and I’m guessing it’s whey. Thanks for sharing.
Oddly, I drink tons of skim milk and eat full fat yogurt, but the whey protein shakes bother me. Go figure.
Nancy if you really want to know which one the culprit is quit eating/drinking all 3 for at least a week. See if you feel better and then add ONE back in your diet at a time and drink it for a week to see if it produces symptoms. Then back off for another week then try/add the next etc. Do ONE at a time. You will find out which one is the culprit. It may be one, it may be two, it may be all three and you just don’t realize it yet. Of course IF you never had any symptoms (none) before drinking the whet protein shake then it probably is that shake.
There are genetic variants that make milk ok for some and not for others. Don’t know how you keep your calcium up?
Susan I drink some no fat milk from time to time and take Vit D3 and calcium supplements a couple times per week and it seems to work ok.
your blog is amazing! Feeling grateful. My poor 74 yr old mother is on her 3rd hospital visit with these attacks. This time her lipase count climbed to 15,000! She was given cream soups, spaghetti, ice-cream in the hospital, and so she continued mimicking the foods they gave her upon release from an 9-day stay and boom! Apparently the hospital doesn’t understand this illness very well either.
I am going to implement your suggestions and follow your advise closely. Thank you!